


Z-Grade Fears

by Sportscandycollective



Series: A Series of Tumblr Requests [2]
Category: LazyTown
Genre: Cross-Generational Friendship, Horror, Implied gruesome deaths, It's short if you're worried, M/M, Mild Blood, Mild Gore, Nightmares, Only in the in-fic movie, Reassurances, Scary Movies, Sort Of Fluff, Sort of? - Freeform, Sportarobbie at the end, Tumblr Ask Box Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-20
Updated: 2017-06-20
Packaged: 2018-11-16 10:47:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11251548
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sportscandycollective/pseuds/Sportscandycollective
Summary: For anon on Tumblr:"Hi. I have a request, please. The kids decide to watch an intense, grown-ups only horror movie They wait until Sportacus takes one of his rare trips out of town and watch it at Pixel's. Ziggy freaks out and tries to run home, but he gets lost and ends up at Robbie's lair. He's crying and screaming, sure he's being chased. The other kids are all out trying to find him and Robbie ends up helping the boy. I'm not sure how, but of course, eventual Sportarobbie would be awesome Thank you!"NOTICE: PLEASE DO NOT REPOST MY WORK ONTO OTHER WEBSITES.





	Z-Grade Fears

"B-But, do we HAVE to do this with the lights off? I-I mean, we could see more of the movie if the lights were on, right? So let's turn them back on!" said Ziggy nervously.

His friends laughed and rolled their eyes as Pixel set up the VCR player and TV set. Stingy plopped himself down next to Ziggy, clutching a large bowl of popcorn.  
"Ziggy, everyone knows that the only way to properly watch a scary movie is late at night with all the lights off! It's just not watching a scary movie if you do it with the lights on!" Stingy said matter-of-factly.  
Ziggy trembled and bit his lip, looking anxiously at Trixie as she set down her backpack, grinning excitedly at their little group.  
"Okay Trixie, what do you got for us? Did you get _Cannibal Dorm Mates V_? Or...Or maybe _He Crawls Through the Vestibule_?" asked Pixel.  
"Even BETTER!" Trixie said with a laugh.  
She yanked out the videotape, whose cover was so old and badly kept that the box was held together with Scotch Tape. The kids oo'ed and ahh'ed, gawking at the box art. It depicted a scantily clad teen being dragged across the ground, her ankle trapped in a bear trap set by a looming, shadowed figure, who wielded a gardening rake stained with blood. Similar, the movie's title was scrawled out, mimicking the look of words drawn in blood.  
"Say hello to _The Gardener's Midnight Harvest_! I heard my brother say that this was the scariest, most not-for-kids horror movie there is!" announced Trixie happily. "It's supposed to be about a group of teens who visit a plant nursery on the anniversary of the mysterious death of the nursery's owner, who died being impaled upon a rake!"  
Stephanie peered at the cover in awe. "Wow Trixie, how'd you manage to get ahold of this? The video store couldn't have let you check it out!"  
Trixie sat up proudly. "How else, Pinky? I 'borrowed' it from my brother's room! And if we're up to it later, I have some other movies I snatched from his collection too! _Attack of the Balloon Men XV, The Pine Trees Stalk at Dawn, One Ticket to the Chop Shop_ , all sorts of stuff!"

While the other children marveled at Trixie's questionably obtained movie collection, Ziggy meanwhile stared at _The Gardener's Midnight Harvest_ box art. He stared into the terrified eyes of the cover's hapless victim, her mouth open in one, drawn out scream. His eyes darted up to the glowing eyes of the titular gardener. For a moment, he could've sworn he saw the glowing orbs move, shifting to look straight at him.  
He gasped and drew his knees up to his chest in defense. He looked fearfully at his friends. "C-C-Couldn't we just wait for S-S-Sportacus to come back so he could, you know, m-m-make sure this isn't too scary for us?" he suggested hopefully.  
Squashing his hopes, his friends laughed at the suggestion.  
"Ziggy, come on! The whole point of this is to watch a movie that Sportacus wouldn't let us watch if he were here!" Trixie said.  
"B-But maybe he had a good reason to not let us watch this?" Ziggy said.  
"Ziggy, no. Stop being a baby, this is going to be fun! Just sit back and enjoy the terror. It's not like we get too many opportunities to watch a movie like this." Stingy said, munching on a handful of popcorn.  
Before Ziggy could say anything more, the TV sputtered to life and Trixie pushed in the tape, the VCR whirring and clicking. The screen flickered, the synthesized score booming through the speakers. The kids all sat back on the couch, their eyes fixed on the screen in anticipation.  
Stephanie, finally noticing her friend's distress, looked at him reassuringly. "I wouldn't worry, Ziggy. It's just a movie, and it's probably not even going to be scary! And if it's too bad, just close your eyes, okay?"  
Ziggy gave a weak smile. "Um, o-okay! I'll just do that. Besides, you're probably right! This probably won't be scary at all."  
\--

_"Ooo John, are you sure you want to make out in this abandoned greenhouse?"_  
_"Come on Silvia, what are you worried about? Are you still thinking about that psycho gardener story that creepy guy with the truck was telling us about?"_  
_"I am! I mean, we are here exactly ten years after the owner's death. Isn't that tempting fate?"_  
_"The only thing that's tempting right now is you, Silvia. Ooo, you wore that teal bra I like."_  
_"Oh John..."_

"What are they doing? Is this an adult thing or something?" asked Stingy with a quirked eyebrow.  
"Maybe the guy is pretending to be a vampire? Why else would he keep biting at her neck?" suggested Trixie with a shrug.  
"I really don't think you need to take off her shirt to do that though." said Pixel.  
Stephanie hushed her friends. "Shh! The music is picking up! I think something's going to happen!"  
The kids leaned forward in their spots, watching carefully as the camera panned behind the kissing teens, shifting the perspective behind them as the figure lumbered forward. Ziggy shook in his seat, his eyes wide with terror as the camera drew closer to the teens.  
"This isn't scary, this isn't scary. This isn't real, this isn't real." Ziggy thought to himself repeatedly, clutching the blanket on his lap tightly. He tried to convince himself of something more positive. Maybe the killer gardener was just going to ask them politely to leave?

_"Oh John, you're so amazing..."_  
_"You're even better, Silvia. Oh? Did you ask one of your friends to join us? I'm liking how this evening is going..."_  
_"Friend? No one knows we're here, John."_  
_"Then who in the world is - "_

Before John could finish his sentence, the children jumped as the killer drove a rake through the guy's head, blood and gore splashing spectacularly across the camera lens. Silvia shrieked, leaping to her feet and clasping her shirt around her torso in an attempt to preserve her modesty. The killer looked up from his first victim and sprinted after the girl, swinging his bloodstained rake in her direction. She ran around terracotta pots and tomato plants, knocking a few over to try and stall the gardener. Ziggy willed and wished for the teen to escape as she screamed in horror, pleading for anyone to find and help her. She ducked behind a stack of potting soil, trying to still her breathing as she peeked around the bags. The killer stalked about, tapping his rake against the ground, turning over pots and seed beds as he searched for his prey. Finally, after several heart-stopping minutes, it seemed that the killer gave up his pursuit. The man turned and walked out the nursery. Silvia breathed a sigh of relief and leaned against the potting soil, tears streaming down her face.  
Ziggy smiled in similar relief. He laughed. "I-I guess that gardener can't kill everyone, huh?"  
Trixie shot him a wicked grin. "Wait."  
Ziggy gulped and slowly turned to look back at the screen. Silvia's moment of peace was quickly shattered as a few streams of soil dropped onto her lap. Shuddering, her eyes slowly turned up towards the balcony, the camera panning up with her gaze. Looming above her was the killer, tipping an industrial sized bag of soil precariously over the edge. All Silvia did was scream as the gardener ripped open the bag, sending a waterfall of thick, pungent soil pouring over her. She attempted to stand and run, but the weight of the dirt grew too much too quickly. Within minutes, she was buried up to her neck, her body trapped hopelessly under dozens of pounds of dirt. She looked up once more, giving a pleading look to the killer as he stepped one foot off the balcony. She shrieked as he leapt off, aiming his feet straight at her head and -  
Ziggy flinched and covered his eyes, thus missing Silvia's untimely death, but from the screams his friends made and the sickeningly graphic sounds of squishing and bones crunching, he could easily fill in the details.  
As he finally peered through the gaps of his fingers, he felt nausea build in his stomach as he caught the gruesome sight on screen. He glanced over to his friend, who still looked at him mischievously.  
"Remember Ziggy, absolutely no one can escape the Gardener." she said wickedly.  
Ziggy whimpered and backed into the sofa, his eyes glued to the screen. He shook his head and trembled, trying his hardest to brace himself and be brave, but significantly failing at it. He had basically curled himself into a little ball as the killer on screen moved away from the remains of his victim, his rake dragging behind him.  
"He's not real, he's not real, he's not real..." Ziggy said quietly to himself.

A door slammed open.  
The children all turned towards the darkened figure, looking in surprise and terror at the silhouette. Ziggy slowly turned with them, and his mouth gaped at the sight.  
A man stood in the doorway, holding something like a rake in his hand, the details of his appearance shrouded in shadow.  
_"No one can escape the Gardener."_  
_"No one can escape."_  
_"NO ONE."_  
"AHHHH! THE GARDENER!" Ziggy shrieked. He leapt from the chair and dashed through the doorway, pushing and knocking over the man at the door as he ripped through the house, crashing down the stairs and out the front door.  
His friends looked on in shock.  
"Ziggy! Come back!" called Stingy.  
Stephanie ran to the wall and flicked on a light. Instantly the room was illuminated, and she looked at her dazed uncle who laid on the floor.  
"Are you okay, Uncle?" she asked worriedly.  
Mayor Meanswell clasped his head and nodded. "Oh my, I think so! I-I just came in to see how you kids were doing! I just finished some sweeping," he said, holding up his broom. "when I heard all this noise in here! What in the world are you kids watching?"  
The kids all looked at the mayor guiltily.  
"We're watching... _The Gardener's Midnight Harvest_." admitted Pixel finally.  
The Mayor gasped. "Children! Don't you know that movie's rated 'R'? You're all far too young to be watching that!"  
"Yeah we know, but we thought it'd be fun!" Stephanie said. She cringed as she looked down the hallway. "Well, fun for most of us."  
"Guys, we really should go find Ziggy. He must be terrified!" Pixel said.  
"Well it's his fault really. He's being a baby and freaking out over the mayor." said Stingy.  
Stephanie shot her friend a look. " _Regardless_ , let's go get him."  
Helping her uncle to his feet, the group left the room in search of their fearful friend.  
\--  
The whole time, Ziggy hadn't stopped screaming.

He tore through the fields outside of LazyTown, frantically trying to find his way home but, in his terror, going in the complete opposite direction. Repeatedly, he glanced over his shoulder, checking to see if the killer still pursued him. The shadows cast across the ground were misread by his terrified, young mind, being turned into images of a lumbering man chasing him with gardening tools. He shrieked again and pushed on faster, ignoring his aching legs and pounding heart.  
"SOMEONE, ANYONE, HELP! I'M BEING CHASED BY A MURDERER!" he yelled, screaming more as he sprinted forward. LazyTown grew further away as he ran into the fields, drawing closer to the famous cow billboard that sat on the outskirts of town. He ran more, picking up his feet higher, before he felt the ground give way underneath him. With another shriek, Ziggy plunged down a hole, feeling the dirt shift to cool, metal as he slid down the mysterious pipe. He crashed and careened against the sides, hearing his cries echo in the darkness. Finally, his strange passageway opened up into a metal walled, open room, filled with hissing pipes and machinery. He flinched as he prepared for his landing, not preparing to hit something more human and angry than the cold, metal floor he expected to land upon. Opening his eyes, Ziggy looked up to meet the glare of a very startled, very grumpy Robbie.  
"Zippy, what in the world are you doing in my lair?! Haven't you brats ever heard of knocking??" he asked angrily.  
Ziggy looked at Robbie worriedly. "Robbie, you have to help me! I'm being chased by a big, bad guy, a-a-and he's trying to kill me! I knew he was real, and h-he killed these teens who were being vampires and he has a rake and - "  
"Alright, hold it!" Robbie said exasperatedly.  
Ziggy went silent.  
Rubbing the bridge of his nose, Robbie looked at the child tiredly. "Okay, from the beginning. You said you're being chased by a murderer?"  
Ziggy nodded frantically. "Yeah! He's big, scary, and he kills people with a rake!"  
"Okay, and you said he killed some teens. Which teens? Jives? Penny? Goggi?" Robbie asked a bit more nervously.  
Ziggy shook his head. "N-No, they're fine I think. Their names were John and Silvia!"  
Robbie looked at the child. "Zippy, there isn't anyone named John and Silvia in LazyTown. Unless they're part of a new family that moved in or teens instantaneously multiply, and gods help us if they do, then I've never heard of them."  
"I mean, how do you know? You've never gotten my name right!" Ziggy pointed out.  
Robbie frowned. "I'm doing it on purpose!" he said defensively. He groaned. "Fine, if there really is a new set of teens in town, then where were they murdered?"  
"In the plant nursery!"  
"LazyTown doesn't have a plant nursery."  
Ziggy looked down sheepishly. "I mean, I know. It was on the TV screen."  
"On the TV - " Robbie started, before stopping. The thoughts connected and he sighed, shaking his head and placing a hand against his face. "Zippy, did you happen to be watching a movie at the time?"  
"I...maybe?" he replied.

Robbie groaned. "Of course, should've guessed that from the start." he muttered to himself. He looked down grumpily at the child. "Well, here's some big news for you kid: the killer isn't real and you just spooked yourself. Good? Now get out of my lair, you interrupted my beauty sleep."  
Ziggy pouted. He looked down nervously at his hands, which twiddled anxiously with each other.  
Robbie sighed. "You're still scared aren't you?"  
Ziggy shook his head. "N-No...I mean, yes. But, I mean, I just got so scared over a stupid movie. I wanted to be brave and watch it like my friends, but I got freaked out over nothing! And I'm still scared!" He looked sadly at the villain. "They won't want to hang out with me after this. They'll think I'm a baby! They'll think I'm some super scared, unable-to-handle-anything-scary kid a-and who wants to play with someone like that?"  
Robbie looked at the child with an uncharacteristically sympathetic look. He burrowed his face into his hands, thinking over what he'd seen Sportacus had done in similar situations. He looked up as he watched as Ziggy's lip began to quiver and he looked on the verge of tears. "Hey, kid, look at me, okay?"  
Ziggy looked up at the villain.

"I don't know much about your posse of br-friends. Heck, I don't have much experience with friends in general. But if I have gathered anything about friends from Sportacow, it's that if they're really your friends, they wouldn't ditch you for something as stupid as you being afraid of a scary movie." he said.  
"B-But I ran out screaming! That's so...babyish of me." Ziggy protested.  
"So you did, can't change that. Doesn't mean you were a baby." Robbie said.  
"I guess so..." Ziggy said, his tone unconvinced.  
"What movie were you kids watching anyways?"  
" _The Midnight Gardener's Harvest_."  
Robbie's eyes widened. "You're serious?? What the heck are you kids watching that for?! That movie's scary, even for grown-ups!"  
"Really?" asked Ziggy.  
"Yup. When it first came out, they had a lot of people walk out of the movie early. Too intense for them, I think."  
"Did you see it?"  
Robbie frowned, an embarrassed blush crossing his face. "Well...yes...sort of. I watched a decent chunk of it..."  
"You didn't finish it??"  
Robbie threw up his hands. "It was really creepy, okay?? I mean, I'm not scared of it now. Just, you know, won't watch it. Sometimes I have nightmares about it. Occasionally hide behind a pillow when I think about the kil..." he said, stopping himself.  
Ziggy nodded. "Wow..."  
Robbie frowned. He had to turn his little oversharing into something productive, fast. "But, uh, as you see, even grown-ups get scared by things like movies. So, you may have been a bit more active on your fear, but that comes with being a kid. Things seem scarier as a kid, so, um, it's okay. Got it?"  
Ziggy looked up at him with eyes filled with child-like curiousity. "Did you think he was chasing you too? In your nightmares?"  
Robbie's scowl vanished. He looked away sheepishly before nodding his answer.  
"Pretty scary, right?" Ziggy said.  
"Yeah, it was." admitted Robbie with a sigh. "Those ones were always my worst nightmares."  
Ziggy nodded, biting his lip thoughtfully. "It would be so much easier if we were both as brave as Sportacus. He isn't afraid of anything." he said softly.  
Ziggy was then startled as Robbie uttered a harsh laugh. "What, Sportaweirdo? Fearless? You must really not know him then."  
Ziggy looked at Robbie in disbelief. "B-But, he told us so! He said he wasn't afraid of anything!"  
"Puh-lease, Zippy. When an adult says that, they're just trying to look strong for you guys. The faster you learn that, the more you can call out that elf." he said with a laugh.  
Ziggy looked at the villain. "So...what is he afraid of?"  
Robbie sat back, supporting himself on his palms. "Well, judging from his reaction each time he falls in my pit traps, he's afraid of small spaces at the last."  
Ziggy's eyes widened. "Really? That's it?"  
Robbie gave the kid a look. "See? There you go. What he's afraid of doesn't sound so scary to you, huh?" He gave the child a half smile. "Everyone's scared of something. If your friends really decide to not be your friend on that alone, they weren't good friends to begin with. Does that sound like them?"  
"No."  
"Then there you go." Robbie said with a sigh. He waved the child away. "Now shoo, I still need my beauty sleep."  
Ziggy looked at the villain in sheepish hope. "Actually, would it be okay if you walked me home? I mean, I know there isn't really a killer gardener out there. But just this once?"  
Robbie sighed again, rubbing his temples thought. Finally, he gave in. "Okay, but don't you speak a word of this to your friends. I'm not a brat taxi service."

\--

Sportacus frantically pulled back on the handbrake as his ship hovered over LazyTown. Leaping out of his seat, he looked down at his crystal's holder once more. It had been silent for the last few minutes, and that fact didn't sit well with the hero.  
"Door!" he cried. The door slid open.  
Doing his signature move, Sportacus bounded onto the platform, peering at the dark town below.  
"Skychaser!" he called, the small pedal glider hovering underneath the platform.  
He leapt onto the glider and pedaled towards the center of town. He'd just finished up his mission when he felt his crystal beeping and blaring, giving him visions of Ziggy running and screaming in terror. Naturally, this had sent Sportacus running to his airship, pedaling furiously back towards LazyTown. However, somewhere along the way, the crystal had fallen silent. Of course, that could only mean two options: either the problem had been solved, or whomever the crystal was beeping for was in much, much worse trouble.  
Sportacus flipped off the skychaser and landed firmly on the ground. He sprinted towards the darkened houses, scanning the streets for Ziggy's home. Once he finally spotted it, he was surprised by the sight of Robbie, quietly closing the front door behind him.

"Robbie?" asked Sportacus.  
Robbie nearly jumped at the sound of the hero's voice. He turned and looked wide-eyed at the hero.  
"What are you doing? Is Ziggy okay? My crystal went off." Sportacus quickly explained.  
"You arrived a bit too late, Sportaloon. He's fine now, I was able to help him." Robbie said.  
Sportacus looked at the vilain in surprise. "You did??"  
Robbie shrugged. "Yeah, the kids just watched a scary movie they shouldn't have watched and it spooked Ziggy more than he expected."  
"And what did you do?"  
"Just told him everyone freaks out over something, including you, and that it's okay. By the way, you're going to need to talk to those kids about watching R-rated horror movies." he said.  
"And that helped?"  
"Sure. He still needed to be walked home, but he seemed okay when I sent him to bed." Robbie said.  
Sportacus smiled. "Thank you so much, Robbie. I really do appreciate it."  
Robbie rolled his eyes. "Whatever, Sportakook. I'm fine with doing it once but don't expect me to be a second version of you or anything. Once is enough."  
"I never expected you to do that."  
Robbie looked at the hero in surprise. "Oh? And why not?"  
"Because," said Sportacus, leaning in and kissing the villain on the lips. "I still need my villain. Doesn't quite work having two heroes around, does it?"  
Robbie blushed hard and harumphed. "You're such a dork, Sportaloon. And no, it doesn't."  
Sportacus smirked. "Says the man who looks like a tomato."  
"Don't you have your bedtime or something?"  
Sportacus's eyes widened. "Right! I do! Don't want to be tired for the kids tomorrow!" he said, doing his signature move. Before he flipped away, however, he looked back once more over his shoulder. "Hey, do you want to, maybe, meet up tomorrow? After I talk with the kids that is?"  
Robbie shrugged. "Sure, why not. Don't have anything better to do." he said, trying to hide his joy.  
Sportacus smiled. "Night Robbie."  
Robbie finally let a smile slip. "Goodnight, Sportacus."


End file.
